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David Stewart MSP “Patients and staff in NHS Orkney deserve better than this.”

Local MSP David Stewart, Labour, has criticised the rise in the number of people waiting longer than 4 hours to be seen by A&E in NHS Orkney where he said that 257 people in Orkney were not seen within the 4 hour waiting period -an increase of 14.2%.

David Stewart, labour’s Shadow Minister for Health said:

“Patients and staff in NHS Orkney deserve better than this.

“I have been concerned about the pressures on the NHS for some time and these figures expose the scale of the challenge NHS staff face in delivering patient care and how badly they have been let down by years of SNP mismanagement of our NHS.

“A&E is the front door of the hospital, and the pulse check of our NHS as a whole. Increasing numbers of people waiting too long at A&E reveals unacceptable pressure in other parts of our health service such as in social care and primary care.

“We already know that staff do not feel they are getting enough support and that the level of unfilled health posts is unsustainable.

“Ministers set the health service targets for staff to hit and then do not deliver the support and resources needed. It simply isn’t good enough.”

An expanded headline might have been in order here ON? Some folk only read the headline and opening paragraphs which, in this case, support the msp’s statement… a statement deliberately designed to make the service look poor …Orkney NHS A&E must be one of the best performing in the country, looking at the actual stata?

The Headline is a direct quote from one of our MSPs that is quite clear as it has inverted commas round it. It is important to reflect the views of our MSPs – the data is also quite clear. The readership of the Orkney News is provided with the facts and can work out their own views

Ian, I thought that by this time you would have known that a great many people only read headline and first para. Labour, Tories and MSM e.g. Daily Fail know this and play readers as eejits. Two tips persevere and read all way through and two forensically check every statistic presented e.g. its amazing how different stats look if you expand or contract the scales eithrr ‘x’ or ‘y’ axis. Looking at Orkney’s stats I.m left wondering just what is David Stewart is complaining about. I just wonder what the comparable stats were for the last year of Lab/Lib coalition?????

Putting aside the party politics – it’s a simple fact, that we are very fortunate here on Orkney, in how quickly we can get an appointment to see a doctor, and/or receive the treatment we need. Try asking someone who lives in a big city, or many places ‘South’. Seriously we’re very fortunate here, for so many reasons. Notice I use the word ‘fortunate’, not ‘lucky’ – there are usually reasons, when something works better in one place, than in another. Luck doesn’t often come into it.

And…statistics, well, Charlie, they are very trixy things. Did you see this?

What you mention is something else I learnt about how stats can be manipulated – playing about with the scale, or rate of increase in the figures, along the sides of a graph – people just don’t pay attention, or look hard enough. Folk …just …don’t…pay attention!

As to folk who only read the headline and first paragraph, then get on their high-horse – well, that’s their problem!

Having said all that – I’m not sure how I’d feel if I was one of the 3 people who wasn’t seen within 8 hours. It must depend on what’s wrong with you, and we have to trust the NHS staff to assess that. Again, that could look bad, as a ‘bald’ statistic – that 3 people were there for more than 8 hours without being treated – but it’s probably not as clear-cut as that.
We also need to remember that it isn’t all that long ago, that A&E, and doctors, weren’t accessible to most folk. All hail Nye Bevan – many of us wouldn’t be here, without the NHS.

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